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A Brief History on Sci-Fi Television

© Tanya M. Blakeley

Ever since time began men and women have looked up at the sky and dreamed of what the future might bring. For some that dream sparked their imagination and began a journey into what is now Science Fiction Television. That journey first began as short stories or novels, that were written to describe possible futures that were translated into scripts for radio broadcasts, B-movies and comic books.

The radio broadcast of Orson Wells' adaptation of H. G. Wells' "War of the Worlds", created a massive panic amoung all who listened to the program, because many thought that it was a real invasion. It also created an interest in Sci- Fi and paved the way for the television classics of the late '50s and of the '60s, such as "The Twilight Zone," "The Outer Limits," "Lost in Space" and Gene Roddenberry's "Star Trek."

Those classics showed us that the future doesn't always have to end on a dark note, but can have many different endings. That in the future everyone can work and live together in harmony, and that we don't always have to fear the unknown, because the unkonwn might not be as scary as what we know now.

At the time Gene Roddenberry created "Star Trek", man was just beginning to explore the stars. Despite an enthusiastic reponse from fans, "Star Trek" was not popular with the network (NBC) at that time. After two unsuccessful cancellation attempts that were thwarted by massive letter-writing campaigns, the network finally succeeded in cancelling the show after only three years (1966-1969). However, beyond all expectations and in spite of the attempts to scuttle the show it became a lasting Sci-Fi legacy.

Some classic shows have evolved into feature films, such as "Star Trek: the Motion Picture" and the other eight "Star Trek" movies, "Batman," "Twilight Zone the Movie" and more recently the new "Lost in Space" movie. As well as one or more spin-off series, like "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "War of the Worlds: the Second Invasion" and more.

They also set the stage for many modern Sci-Fi favourites, such as "the X-Files," "Space Above and Beyond," "Babylon 5," "ST: the Next Generation," "ST: DS9," "Sliders," "ST: Voyager," and "Millenium."

Sci-Fi Television has gained an audience of well over a billion people world-wide, as we tune-in to watch our new favourites and the old classics. Although the classics didn't have the 'top of the line' effects that we have now, at that time they were new, untried and even revolutionary, but were still captivating. I myself have sometimes wondered, while watching "Star Trek: The Original Series" or "Lost in Space," "How did they do that?"

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